Father James J. Maher, C.M., inaugurated as 26th president of Niagara University

by jmaloni

Submitted

Mon, Apr 7th 2014 10:45 am

The Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., was formally inducted as Niagara University's 26th president during a ceremony held Friday, April 4.

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The Rev.
James J. Maher, C.M., was formally inaugurated as Niagara University's 26th
president during a ceremony held Friday, April 4, in the Gallagher Center.

The event
served as the centerpiece of a full week of activities intended to celebrate
the university's rich heritage of academic excellence and community service.

Members
of the Vincentian community, as well as elected officials and delegates
representing fellow academic institutions, joined the NU community in
commemorating the occasion.

The Rev.
Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., NU's 25th president and interim president of St.
John's University, conducted the investiture of Father Maher.

After
expressing his gratitude to the more than 1,100 in attendance, Maher outlined
his vision for the 158-year-old Catholic and Vincentian institution.

"I have titled
this address, 'The Miracle of Niagara University: Action is Our Entire Task,'
and here is why.

"In 1856,
two rugged Vincentians, Bishop John Timon and Father John Joseph Lynch, an
Irishman from County Monaghan in Ireland, worked together to give birth to the
miracle we now call Niagara University. Demonstrating our institution's
international roots, Father Timon, of course, served as first bishop of
Buffalo, while Father Lynch became Toronto's first archbishop in 1870.

"In his
recent book detailing the origins and history of Niagara University, professor
John Stranges refers to the relationship between Niagara and Lynch as 'the Wild
Project of a Penniless Enthusiast.'

"It was
Lynch who purchased the 110-acre Vedder Farm, the site of where we stand today,
for $75 an acre. In the words of Stranges, he was seeking relief from the heat
and high temperatures of the Southwest; if he was looking for a cooler climate,
he would not be disappointed!

"At that
time, Lynch was dreaming of a seminary to educate young men for the priesthood,
to shape their lives in scholarship, learning, community and service, to live
lives of transcendent purpose and, in his vision, to 'become good citizens of
the world.'

"Niagara
would become even more prodigious in the years that followed, answering its
divine call and exceeding even the dreams of its founder and wild enthusiast.

"Metaphorically,
the lives of John Lynch and Niagara University would be interwoven by the
miracle of divine grace and human ingenuity.

"In the
course of his life, John Lynch nearly died three times.

"Niagara
University, in its life, would be severely tested by fires, financial troubles,
storms and environmental challenges. A plaque in the lobby of this very
building denotes the bravery of Marcus Brown, a young Jewish merchant who saved
Niagara from foreclosure in the late 1880s.

"Yet like
the faithful brothers in the Book of Daniel, each time, the campus community
emerged from the fire stronger and bearing witness to the miracle that is
Niagara University.

"One of
the greatest measures of a woman or man is how well they deliver on their
promises.

"I would
like to take this opportunity to publicly thank and recognize a very gifted and
loyal son of St. Vincent who is fondly known as our Brother Joseph, Father
Joseph Levesque, C.M.

"Fourteen
years ago, Father Levesque stood on this stage promising a university that
would become an academic community distinguished by excellence in learning,
teaching, shared governance with faculty colleagues, and that would be deeply
connected to the community of Niagara Falls, Niagara County and Western New
York.

"Please
join me in thanking Father Joseph Levesque for his faithfulness and fidelity to
his promise.

"Niagara
University is positioned to shape a successful future due in large measure to
the talents of professor, department chair, dean, president and Father Joseph
Levesque. Joe, we love you and look forward to welcoming you home.

"In the
traditions of Roman Catholic religious communities, many of us take vows of
obedience, a vow which, in the words of scripture, confounds the proud. At its
Latin root, obedience means simply to listen - like the prophet Ezekiel, an
openness to hear the gentle and relentless voice of God, calling us to be and
do more.

"This
past year, I undertook a listening tour, seeking to meet with every person on
this campus who was willing to do so. I met with students, faculty, support
staff, administrators, maintenance and food service workers. I asked them to
tell me what they loved about Niagara University and what they would like to
tell the new President about Niagara University.

"Here is
what you told me about Niagara University:

"We are
truly an academic community, with immensely gifted faculty scholars, teachers
and servants. You may be interested to know that this comment came from every
sector of the university.

"Ninety-four
percent of Niagara faculty members have earned the highest degree in their
field from universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of
Pennsylvania, Notre Dame and Cornell. One hundred percent of them are committed
to seeing our students succeed.

"My
travels have taken me to the greatest universities in the world, with
opportunities to witness the immensity of the gifts of faculty around the
globe. I stand before you today to tell you that Niagara University's faculty
are second to none in interweaving teaching, scholarship and service.

"Recently,
I met with a group of students and asked them what they would like to tell
people about Niagara University.

Similarly,
they said, 'Tell them we have great faculty who challenge us and care about us.
... They know our names! They engage us in the contemplation of truth and beauty,
and teach us how to think critically. At the same time, we learn to value the
dignity of the human person above all else.'

"This is
our faculty dedicated to the liberal arts education that elevates and frees the
human person, while preparing students for professional life after Niagara.

"We will
continue to foster an academic environment that is, at its core, grounded in
the liberal arts, preparing graduates for a globalized workplace and the
interface of cultures ... or in the words of Father Lynch, to be citizens of the
world.

"We are a
caring community with deep pride on our Catholic and Vincentian mission.

"The many
statues and religious symbols embedded on this campus embody the best of a
Catholic university.

"Simply
because the symbols are reflective of reality, as I have spoken to members of
our community and alumni, they speak about the 'magic' of Niagara.

" 'Someone
cared about me,' they tell me. 'No one is too busy to help and display both the
human and divine touch of compassion.'

"Niagara
is a special place where its community members care deeply for each other,
calling forth the best in our members, where people enfold their personal
mission into our larger Catholic and Vincentian mission.

"We seek
to become, in the words of the late, great Pope John Paul II, a community of
the workplace fostering a living-learning community. And in the call of St.
Francis, to combat the globalization of indifference to human suffering.

"That
living-learning community is what inspired Karen Ballard, Class of 1966, to
become one of the earliest clinical nursing specialists in a teaching medical
center. For over two decades, she provided compassionate nursing care to
children with a variety of psychiatric disorders as well as those who were
chronically and terminally ill.

"That
living-learning community is what inspired Michael Daloia, Class of 2009, to
voluntarily live in poverty with the indigenous in the mountains of Panama
shortly after graduating from Niagara. In partnership with the Peace Corps and
other organizations, he taught English to middle school students in Soloy as a
means of paving a pathway out of poverty for the Panamanians. Today, he is
pursuing a graduate degree at Niagara University, while ministering a few miles
away, as operations and personnel manager of the Heart, Love & Soul food
pantry and dining room in downtown Niagara Falls.

"That
living-learning community is what inspired Ed Brennan, Class of 1978, to use
his resources to assist the people of Haiti in recovering from the catastrophic
earthquake that killed more than 200,000 natives and devastated the country's
infrastructure. The organization he founded is well on its way to building a
world-class school in Saint-Marc, a coastal town in western Haiti, and wants to
do even more. Like St. Vincent, Mr. Brennan is using his treasure to build an
educational pipeline out of poverty for those suffering under the most trying
of circumstances.

"And that
living-learning community is what inspired Jim Glynn, Class of 1957, to finance
his Niagara education by delivering newspapers and working summers at the Maid
of the Mist. Mr. Glynn purchased the company a decade-and-a-half after
graduating, turning the Maid of the Mist into an iconic attraction that brings
millions of visitors to Niagara Falls from around the globe. Inspired by Sr.
Irene Kraus, he has utilized margin to advance the mission, contributing to
numerous causes, including Catholic Charities, the Daughters of Charity, and
Heart, Love and Soul.

"Those
are but four examples of what a Niagara University graduate looks like,
products of the marriage of liberal arts-based and professional training - full
of action and impact. We educate traditional students, veterans returning from
war, single parents coping with tragedy and those with and without means. We do
this in a way that inspires them to make a difference in the lives of others.
This is the miracle of Niagara University.

"We are a
community embracing the eternal mission of St. Vincent de Paul, making central
the lives of the poor and marginalized.

"We will
build on the work of this community and establish a two-way bridge to the world
of the poor. As a Vincentian community, we will follow the vision of St.
Vincent de Paul, placing the treasures of teaching, research and service to
assist the local community, inviting them to be part of our community and
enhancing our lives.

"In the
spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, we will be a community seeking to bring the balm
of compassion to the suffering and misery in our community.

"You have
told me consistently that we must tell our story to those in Western New York,
the United States, Canada and throughout the world with consistency, enthusiasm
and passion.

"Today, I
stand before you to promise that we will do that. We will tell the story of the
miracle of Niagara University:

•Where
the excellence of our academics and comprehensiveness of our service advance an
esteemed legacy. That legacy includes the development (of) a 19th
century health center that was the first in New York to insist on four years of
study before granting the medical doctor degree. In 1898, that health center
merged with UB to form the forerunner of what is today Dr. Tripathi's excellent
medical school.

•As we
gather today, Niagara has the highest four-year graduation rate of any
institution in the Buffalo-Niagara region, where close to 75 percent of our
students have internships and other practical experience - where 46 percent of
our undergraduates report having the opportunity to participate in research
with a faculty member.

•A
community that contributes $207 million toward the economic development of
Western New York, and strives to become an even greater regional partner
through several strategic initiatives.

One of
these enterprises has been the re-institution of our highly reputed nursing programs,
which are complemented by a strategy to support the growth in other areas of
health and the life sciences.

A second
initiative is our distinctive role in STEM education, computer science,
logistics and other fields that support the advancement of industry in our
region.

We are
also taking on a leadership role in helping Western New York to fulfill its
enormous promise as a global tourism destination.

And, last
but certainly not least, our nationally recognized service to the community
will be further enhanced by the establishment of the Rev. Joseph L. Levesque,
C.M. Institute for Civic Engagement.

"This is
the Niagara University you have told me about, and this is the Niagara
University that will inspire my best efforts as its 26th president.

"We will
find our identity and destiny in the eternal legacy of St. Vincent de Paul, a
man of immense intellectual and social gifts whose life turned from a
status-seeking upwardly mobile track, to one that turned toward human misery
and suffering, offering the healing balm of divine mercy and compassion.

"As
historian Bernard Pujo wrote, 'What is the secret of Vincent's remarkable
influence? He left us neither a learned treatise nor a body of doctrine, only
the little volume of his 'Rule,' a brief synthesis of theological spirituality.
He was content to lay out a road, to clear the paths, inviting his disciples to
continue the charitable works he had begun.'

"He
opened the doors of the church, teaching clergy to work with laity, the first
who dared to value the contribution of women. Vincent knew how to make his work
responsive to every kind of misery, whether physical or moral, determined to
remedy it and find an appropriate solution for every situation.

"He was
the initiator of assistance to abandoned children, prisoners, victims of
catastrophe, refugees ... housebound invalids. In all of his works, he was a
precursor, showing the way that is followed today by institutions and
governmental and nongovernmental departments of social services.

"Bending
to the pattern of his model, Jesus Christ, Vincent placed himself at the
service of the poor, calling them our lords and masters. He taught us to be
inventive with the times, that true charity does not consist of distributing
alms, but in helping the poor regain their dignity and independence.

"As a
Vincentian institution, it is upon us to be eternally resourceful, to - as
Vincent instructed - 'demonstrate a love that is inventive unto infinity.'

St.
Vincent de Paul believed and lived the motto, 'Totum Opus Nostrum in operatione
consitit,' 'Action is our Entire Task.'

"Today,
as the 26th president of Niagara University, I declare, let us follow the
spirit of both the founder of this university, the 'Wild Project of a Penniless
Enthusiast,' and the founder of our very Vincentian order.

"Let us
continue to build a university that transforms the lives of our students, and
inspires them to make a difference in the lives of others through their
professional and service endeavors. Let us be creative, collaborative and
innovative in all of our work. Through our action, let us create a brighter
future for Niagara, where the members of our community learn to change the
world.

"Indeed, action
is our entire task.

"God
bless Niagara University - and the miracle of its past, present and future."

Maher was
named Niagara University's 26th president in March 2013, after spending 23
years at St. John's University, including the final three as executive vice
president for mission and student services.